Nationwide — Ronald Exantus, an African American man who killed 6-year-old Logan Tipton during a violent home attack in Kentucky, was released from prison more than 10 years early. The White House has now launched an investigation into why he was freed ahead of schedule.
According to WLBT, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on X that the federal officials are “looking into” Exantus’ early release. “It’s wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison,” she said.
In 2015, Exantus broke into the Tipton family’s home in Versailles, Kentucky. He stabbed Logan, his father, and two of Logan’s sisters as they slept. The children’s older sister, Koral, said she and her siblings witnessed the attack.
“He did it in front of me,” Koral said. “He did it in front of my siblings. And being an older sister, who has the obligation anyway to protect her younger siblings, it’s just, he ruined, he messed us up.”
Although Exantus was found not guilty by reason of insanity for Logan’s death, he was convicted of assaulting the rest of the family. He received a 20-year sentence, made up of two consecutive 10-year prison terms. The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2020, and parole was denied multiple times afterward.
However, last month, Exantus was unexpectedly released 13 years early under Kentucky’s Mandatory Reentry Supervision law. State officials said the law requires some inmates to move to supervised reentry before completing their full sentence.
The Kentucky Justice Cabinet clarified that the parole board did not approve his release, but that state law made it mandatory. Exantus is now under probation and parole supervision in Florida until June 2026.
For Logan’s mother, Heather Tipton, the federal review offers a small sense of justice. “Finally,” she said. “People are finally finding out about this.”